Small farms should stop trying to compete and start changing the food system
Small farms rarely make a decent living in commodity markets. It’s time to stop chasing scale and start building resilient, relationship-based food systems instead.
Food & Water
The architect making America’s food system legible
Architect and farmer Caitlin Taylor says communities need regional infrastructure for food security. As global agribusiness corporations contribute to ecological degradation and threaten the viability of local farms, she’s working to build a different system.
The Sahara’s rare floods prompt a rethink of how arid regions manage water in a warming world
Intense floods in Algeria’s Sahara in 2024 exposed how modern desert cities shed water instead of storing it. Redesigning infrastructure to hold rain, not rush it away, could help turn arid regions into resilient, living landscapes.
How preserving local seeds is key to sustaining rural life
In the remote Tughgoz village in Tajikistan, agriculture is the foundation of daily life. Local seed varieties that once thrived have become rare, so residents launched a community-supported seed initiative to preserve and share traditional seeds before they disappear.
Agroecology has a PR problem. Here’s how we can solve it
Good Food For All!, a European Citizens’ Initiative supported by a coalition of more than 300 civil society organisations across Europe, including ARC2020, is making important strides in amplifying the messages of the food sovereignty and agroecology movements. But the battle for hearts, minds and policies is still far from won.
Extreme heat is a growing threat to health, jobs and food security in southern Africa – study looks for practical solutions
Extreme heat is already a defining climate and health threat in southern Africa, yet public debate still treats it as ordinary bad weather. A new study shows that, as climate change drives more extreme events, governments and institutions can adopt practical steps to make communities more climate‑resilient.
Food, energy and collapse: The missing realities in today’s climate discourse
A critique of contemporary food and energy analysis, this essay argues that many proposed solutions to food insecurity and fossil fuel dependence remain trapped within the assumptions of growth and technological complexity. Instead, it calls for a more honest reckoning with ecological limits, inequality and the possibility of a lower-energy, more localized future.
Why ‘regenerative’ agriculture is more than a new name for ‘sustainable’ farming
More than a farming method, regenerative agriculture was conceived as an ethic of care for land and life. Focusing on a “one-size-fits-all” standard for regenerative agriculture and marketing it for profits has left the concept a hollowed version of itself.
Forest gardening for resilience: Growing regenerative food systems in New Zealand
In New Zealand, forest gardening is being reshaped to fit local climates, ecosystems and cultural contexts. Drawing on years of research and practice, this work shows how place-based adaptation can support more resilient, regenerative food systems.
Revolt, reform or rebuild: Building resilient food systems from the ground up
The global food system is both essential and unsustainable, locked into patterns that resist meaningful reform. Real change, the author argues, lies in rebuilding local, regenerative food systems that can gradually replace what no longer works.
Understanding how plants pause and restart growth can help develop climate‑resilient crops
New research shows that plants can temporarily halt root growth under stresses like cold and drought, then rapidly restart it once conditions improve. By identifying the genes behind this “pause and push” response, scientists hope to develop crops that recover more quickly from extreme weather, strengthening food security in a changing climate.
The restorative promise of agroecology: Farming for sovereignty and resilience in Malawi – Part II
In Malawi, farmers who have embraced agroecology are navigating the challenges of climate change, market pressures, and community needs.
